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One of the most common problems VAs encounter during the course of their existence is losing members. Some people apply, are active for a few days, then disappear activity-wise for the rest of their time in the VA. As a former VA founder and current VA staff member, I myself know how annoying it is to feel the happiness of bringing in a new pilot, only to see them never file a flight or interact at all with the rest of the VA. The ability (or inability) to acquire new pilots and then keep them active is known as Pilot Retention.
A good retention rate is rare for any VA. I’ve found from my experience that large and small VAs alike are affected equally by mediocre retention rates. Using Singapore VA as an example, I’d estimate that 1 out of every 3 new pilots we approve and bring into the VA never flies after being accepted. We’ll call this the Short Term Retention Rate- two out of three in this case. This, however, is only part of the problem. I’d estimate that out of the 2 new pilots that do stay active past being accepted, only 1 will be active for a period of longer than one month. We’ll call this the Long Term Retention Rate- one out of three in this case.
So, if you think about it, at least in Singapore VA’s case, out of every 3 new pilots we accept, only 1 on average will stay active for longer than a month after being accepted. That’s not great! But, based on my experience, I feel relatively confident saying that that’s the average Pilot Retention Rate for any given VA. The Pilot Retention Rate is the combination of the Long and Short Term Retention Rates- it’s what’s left after a month.
On top of that, as many established VA leaders know, those who have the largest impact on VA culture are the staff and long-term experienced pilots. To build a core base of long-term pilots, guess what you need? That’s right, you need a good Retention Rate. So, how can you change your Retention Rate for the better? I’ve compiled below a list of factors that you can and can’t control that affect pilots in terms of their desire to stay active in your VA.
As you can see, there are many more controllable factors than uncontrollable factors that affect Pilot Retention Rate. If you as a VA staff or leader are noticing a large problem with your Retention Rate, I advise to review the controllable factors listed here, and evaluate if adjusting any one or a few of them might help you increase this important statistic. Don't worry about the uncontrollable ones, even if they play a big role. You can't change those! If you’ve made it all the way through, I hope this has helped, and thank you!
- Sam (Yacht)